Southampton Shipyard
The Southampton Shipyards are a massive assemblage of floating steel where most of the Bretonian naval fleet is constructed. The yard is organized around an enormous structure known by most employees as "The Bridge." The Bridge is a well recognized object of pride for most Bretonians, symbolizing the brilliance and dedication of the Bretonian people. Though Southampton is largely controlled by Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing (BMM) and the Bretonia Armed Forces, it is frequented by almost anybody who has business in New London space. Infocard *LOCATION: New London system *OWNER: BMM *CLASS: Winchester *GRAVITY: Partial *DOCKING: Yes *AMENITIES: Yes *POPULATION: 10K Ships For Sale None. Commodities For Sale *Scrap Metal - $55 *Toxic Waste - $110 Commodities Buying *Boron -$660 *Engine Components - $1199 *H-Fuel - $341 *High-Temperature Alloy - $800 *Optronics - $1190 *Scrap Metal - $55 *Superconductors - $600 *Toxic Waste - $110 Guns For Sale *Starbeam *Stunpulse *Adv. Starbeam *Adv. Stunpulse *Heavy Starbeam Turrets For Sale *Starbeam Turret *Adv. Starbeam Turret *Stunpulse Turret Missiles For Sale *Eraser Missile - Class 1 *Javelin Missile - Class 1 *Stalker Missile - Class 1 *Sweeper Missile - Class 3 *Slingshot Missile - Class 3 *Windstalker Missile - Class 3 Shields For Sale *Armet Fr. Shield *Armet L.F. Shield *Armet H.F. Shield *Adv. Armet Fr. Shield *Adv. Armet L.F. Shield *Adv. Armet H.F. Shield *Cuisse Fr. Shield *Cuisse L.F. Shield *Cuisse H.F. Shield Torpedo/Cruise Disruptors For Sale *Wasp Cruise Disruptor Mine Dispensers For Sale *Drone Mine *Seeker Mine *Wardog Mine *Razor Mine Base Rumors Border World Exports "I just came down from Glasgow in the Leeds system with a load of Kusari Optronics and Engine Components. That's our HQ for all Bowex field operations. It would make more sense to be in London, but they got this thing about tradition." "On our trips from Pittsburgh we bring in the Boron they use for the Hull Panels. We also pick up Superconductors and Optical Chips in Los Angeles every other trip. Those are used for engine combustion chambers and avionics." "Running the MOX in from LD-14 can be a real nail biter. Rumor has it that the Mollys are trying to steal some to make a bomb." Bounty Hunters Guild "I used to work these fields -- know 'em like the back of my hand. That's what gives me the edge against the baddies. Gotta watch out for those gas pockets. They're in most of the fields in this system. They got them marked, but not everyone pays attention." "I'm a former Molly that saw the light in Newgate. I won't go after my old comrades, I prefer to hunt the foreign invaders of our space like the Corsairs and the Outcasts. It's my patriotic duty." "Let me tell you, this is right in the thick of it as far as bad guys in Bretonia. You've got Gaians and Corsairs in the Devon Field, Mollys coming in from the Cumbria, and everyone imaginable in the Southampton Debris Field." "New London is just a sideshow for the Outcasts, 'cause there's no Jump Hole into Manchester from here. The main Cardamine route is through the Leeds smog clouds." "Word is, the Corsairs found some old Jump Hole in the Somerset Field from Cambridge. That's when all the problems started over there. I'm heading over to check it out pretty soon." "You don't get much of a bounty for Gaians. The Corsairs and the Outcasts are a different matter. Bag one of them and you'll be taking it easy for a while." Bretonia Armed Forces "Cardamine use is also on the rise in New London. We once thought it was exclusively a problem in Liberty. Outcasts have been sighted in the debris field and along the Trade Lanes near the Leeds Jump Gate, presumably engaged in smuggling and piracy activities." "Frankly, the Bretonia Armed Forces has fallen behind Kusari and Liberty. We just don't have the resources we once had. Our policy is appeasement and compromise." "Southampton is a strategic base for the Armed Forces. In addition to protecting the center of Bretonia's industrial might against attack by the criminal element, we run patrols in all directions from here." "The patrols into the Devon Field are to keep the Gaians in check, and more importantly, to address the increasing presence of Corsairs, who have overwhelmed the resources of the Police Authority since their arrival several years ago." "We run a daily patrol into the Southampton Debris Field, which contains radiation pockets and numerous criminals. We need to clean up the mess to clear out the criminal menace, but government funds are lacking. The multiple terraforming projects in progress have virtually bankrupted the treasury, and the financial drain continues." "We've noticed a marked increase in New London Artifact availability and a corresponding drop in price since the Corsairs arrived. The Junkers are suspected in importing the banned trinkets, but they're difficult to catch red-handed." Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing "Company says Mollys cost us a lot of jobs last year. That's why we had to lay off so many. Me, I think it's 'cause Kusari is making transports cheaper and faster than old, stodgy BMM." "I run the basic supply train up from New London every few days -- mostly Food, Oxygen, and Water. Not much to it, unless the Mollys show up. You just hop on the Trade Lane and there you are." "I'm a third-generation Yardie here on Southampton. We've built all of Bretonia's great ships ever since anyone can remember. My ancestors have worked here for hundreds of years." "I've got my family back in Leeds. They've got all sorts of health problems. Company says it's 'cause we haven't been taking care of our kids properly. I dunno, seems like that nasty, thick brown air and smelly water may have something to do with it." "New London used to be the mining center of Bretonia. Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Cumbria were all famous in their day. Those fields employed hundreds of thousands of the Bretonian working class. Now they import everything from the Border Worlds. Everyone's had to migrate out there in search of the work." "The Junkers are a slimy set. They like to come and steal from our storage depots when no one is looking. We had to arm them, we did. To think that the Junkers used to be proper Yardies -- what a shame." "The Mollys are always sittin' out in the Southampton or Cumbria Fields waiting for some poor BMM bloke to come along, just minding his own business. A nasty lot, they are." "Those Gaians are a bunch of upper-class Cambridge snobs that don't have their heads screwed on straight. I would welcome a new planet to live on. It's got to be better than the catastrophe they call Leeds." "Those Junkers are bad for this area. Ever since they showed up we've been getting Outcasts. Now the Corsairs are starting to arrive. They should go in and clean them out. Seems like they can never catch them red-handed." "We get many of our raw materials from the Stokes Smelter in Leeds. The inbound run usually consists of Basic Alloys, Super Alloys, or Ship Hull Panels. Then we fill up with Scrap Metal and Toxic Waste to haul up to the cesspool that they call the Leeds system." Gateway Shipping "I'm headed back out to Kensington as soon as I can. This is enemy territory as far as I'm concerned. I used to work for Bowex hauling Ship Hull Panels. We got fed up with the conservative culture and started our own thing." "We don't get hassled by pirates nearly as much as our competitors do. Our allies, the IMG, get along pretty well with the Mollys and the Hessians. That's a big advantage for us in the Omega Border World Trade Lane routes to Rheinland. Of course, we still have to deal with the Corsairs." "We just started shipping High-Temperature Alloys from ALG's Dortmund plant to Southampton. BMM normally doesn't give us the time of day, but they'd like to get a cheaper supplier and be less dependent on those arrogant Republican shippers." Kishiro Technologies "Kishiro is a progressive company. We are much more innovative than Samura, which uses its influence to resist change rather than embrace it. Soon we'll be hauling the H-Fuel to this shipyard." "The Outcasts are very troublesome. Ever since we opened our Hydrocarbon and Polymer plant in Tau-29, they have become very aggressive. We were even attacked in the southern part of Leeds during the last trip. That's not a promising sign for Bretonia's well-being." "They are unloading my ship right now. We ship Optronics and Engine Components from Honshu on a regular basis. You should visit my homeland sometime. It's very beautiful. The lovely blue clouds of the Crow Nebula surround my system." Republican Shipping "I noticed that the Kusari transports are unloading Engine Components also. This is not a good sign. One day we may not be coming to this shipyard with Rheinland products anymore." "Republican has been providing High-Temperature Alloys to the Sirius Sector for centuries. We still dominate this specialty, aided by our easy access to the raw materials of the Walker Nebula in Dresden and Omega-7." "The route for Republican through the Omega Border Worlds is very difficult -- much more so than the Tau systems that the Kusari must traverse. This challenge hurts us competitively, at least a far as the Bretonian export market is concerned." Samura Heavy Industries "Bretonia's not too dangerous. At least compared to Kusari space and the Tau Border Worlds. The Blood Dragons are the most serious menace with Kusari. The Outcasts replace them as the threat once you leave Kyushu." "The most valuable Commodity Bretonia has to offer us is Gold. We use it in our ship construction site at Yokohama for coating windows." "This is just a quick stop for our ship. We're dropping off a load of H-Fuel from Osaka in the Honshu system. We'll be heading back up to Stokes to pick up our return cargo." Universal Shipping "This Southampton yard is impressive -- lots of stalls, although it doesn't look like very many are occupied. They call this "The Bridge", which sounds kind of optimistic to me. Looks like Bretonia's shipbuilding industry is hurting as much as ours." "Universal doesn't bother hauling stuff past the capital systems like New London. We let the local shippers take over. They can have the Border Worlds, as far as we're concerned. Insurance premiums go up quite a bit." "We're just making a pit stop to unload some Superconductors. Then it's back to Waterloo for a little break before heading home to Trenton. It's kind of polluted here in Bretonia -- and I thought New York was bad." REP HACKS AVAILABLE: Bretonia Police, Gateway Shipping, Bowex, Planetform, Republican Shipping, Independent Miners Guild, Orbital Spa and Cruise, Cryer Pharmaceuticals, Bounty Hunters Guild Category:Bases Category:Bretonia Systems Category:Shipyards